Dumlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

[grtday]

Now that I have your attention, please read this story, as someone at Genesis dropped the ball.
Short version- All 4 of the Dunlops on my car exhibited an unusual wear pattern. I sent the letter below to the CEO of Hyundai wanting to go on record, offering my vehicle as proof of this problem.
The letter itself, is quite self-explanatory as are the attached pictures.
Please read on for this letter sent to CEO John Krafik on 9-28-2010:
"Dear Mr. Krafik,

It has been 17 months with my Genesis and I am elated. The car is everything a luxury performance sedan should be and then some. Having owned Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW, I can honestly say that my Black on Black Genesis 4.6 exceeded all of my expectations and looms above everything my previous vehicles purported to do/be.

Additionally, the service people at HUB Hyundai have also exceeded the Genesis expectations. I’m eagerly welcomed, treated incredibly well and my vehicle is always ready when promised.

I’m one of those exceptional owners who maintains their vehicle by the book plus 10% so I’ve done every oil change early, rotated and balanced my tires every 3-4K miles and check pressures weekly. Almost all is well….

Which brings me to the crux of this letter. In early September, I went in to Discount Tire for my usual tire balance and rotation. My vehicle had 17,300 miles on the factory Dunlop tires. The techs called me over to show me that on 3 of my 4 tires, “the inner shoulders had worn down to the second and third layer of rubber...close to the cords.” They went on to tell me, “Mr. Johnson, these tires are UNSAFE and should be replaced.” I reminded them of the minimal mileage and they came back suggesting that I contact my dealer.

Immediately I drove over to see Gordon Stewart of HUB Hyundai in Katy. He took a look and agreed the tires were wearing in a peculiar manner. He advised that the Hyundai regional manager would have to take a look. I also advised Gordon that the “tire road noise” had been steadily increasing over the last 6 months, to which I can only attribute to these tires abnormal wear.

Mr. Krafik, I write to you for two reasons.

1. I think the Genesis engineers would like to take a look at this tire/vehicle combination and the unusual wear geometry. This should not be happening, but after researching some of the Genesis Boards on the net, I’m not the only one with this problem.

2. I want to go on record, reporting to you an unsafe condition existing in a product that you assemble, endorse, and sell.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this unsafe condition existing on an incredible vehicle."

You will note the excessive shoulder wear at 17,300 miles. Discount Tires called these tires UNSAFE.
I notified HUB Hyundai service and asked to speak with the local Hyundai rep when he came to town.
There was no contact from Krafik's office or the regional Hyudai rep.
I reluctantly drive the tires a few more miles (21,466) and in mid-March went back to Discount Tire for 4 new Yokohama Advan's costing over $800.
Here is my complaint....where I come from, NO properly maintained tires wear out at 21K miles. As you can see from the attached photos, the shoulders were scrubbed right off, revealing the cords of this unsafe Dunlop product.
I tried to tell Hyundai and my dealer that a problem existed. Both ignored me and that is not like them.
IF there is anyone from Hyundai reading this, please get in touch with me as this is my only complaint about this car. However these factory tires deserve an adjustment from the manufacturer.
Any thoughts from anyone out there! How are yours wearing?
Thanks for reading and viewing.

 

[grtday]

Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

Now that I have your attention, please read this story, as someone at Genesis dropped the ball.
Short version- All 4 of the Dunlops on my car exhibited an unusual wear pattern. I sent the letter below to the CEO of Hyundai wanting to go on record, offering my vehicle as proof of this problem.
The letter itself, is quite self-explanatory as are the attached pictures.
Please read on for this letter sent to CEO John Krafik on 9-28-2010:
"Dear Mr. Krafik,

It has been 17 months with my Genesis and I am elated. The car is everything a luxury performance sedan should be and then some. Having owned Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW, I can honestly say that my Black on Black Genesis 4.6 exceeded all of my expectations and looms above everything my previous vehicles purported to do/be.

Additionally, the service people at HUB Hyundai have also exceeded the Genesis expectations. I’m eagerly welcomed, treated incredibly well and my vehicle is always ready when promised.

I’m one of those exceptional owners who maintains their vehicle by the book plus 10% so I’ve done every oil change early, rotated and balanced my tires every 3-4K miles and check pressures weekly. Almost all is well….

Which brings me to the crux of this letter. In early September, I went in to Discount Tire for my usual tire balance and rotation. My vehicle had 17,300 miles on the factory Dunlop tires. The techs called me over to show me that on 3 of my 4 tires, “the inner shoulders had worn down to the second and third layer of rubber...close to the cords.” They went on to tell me, “Mr. Johnson, these tires are UNSAFE and should be replaced.” I reminded them of the minimal mileage and they came back suggesting that I contact my dealer.

Immediately I drove over to see Gordon Stewart of HUB Hyundai in Katy. He took a look and agreed the tires were wearing in a peculiar manner. He advised that the Hyundai regional manager would have to take a look. I also advised Gordon that the “tire road noise” had been steadily increasing over the last 6 months, to which I can only attribute to these tires abnormal wear.

Mr. Krafik, I write to you for two reasons.

1. I think the Genesis engineers would like to take a look at this tire/vehicle combination and the unusual wear geometry. This should not be happening, but after researching some of the Genesis Boards on the net, I’m not the only one with this problem.

2. I want to go on record, reporting to you an unsafe condition existing in a product that you assemble, endorse, and sell.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this unsafe condition existing on an incredible vehicle."

You will note the excessive shoulder wear at 17,300 miles. Discount Tires called these tires UNSAFE.
I notified HUB Hyundai service and asked to speak with the local Hyundai rep when he came to town.
There was no contact from Krafik's office or the regional Hyudai rep.
I reluctantly drive the tires a few more miles (21,466) and in mid-March went back to Discount Tire for 4 new Yokohama Advan's costing over $800.
Here is my complaint....where I come from, NO properly maintained tires wear out at 21K miles. As you can see from the attached photos, the shoulders were scrubbed right off, revealing the cords of this unsafe Dunlop product.
I tried to tell Hyundai and my dealer that a problem existed. Both ignored me and that is not like them.
IF there is anyone from Hyundai reading this, please get in touch with me as this is my only complaint about this car. However these factory tires deserve an adjustment from the manufacturer.
Any thoughts from anyone out there! How are yours wearing?
Thanks for reading and viewing.

 

[grtday]

Response: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

Somehow the pictures did not upload. Don't know why...
The first 3 are of the tires at 17K. The last ones are the day they came off.

 

[Mgrig]

Re: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

Damn! I got 37K miles before I had to change mine.

 

[grtday]

Response: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

So would you agree there was a problem with the tires and/or the car?

 

[homeofstone]

Re: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

Got mine off at about 17000 miles. Saved one dunlop for a back up if we ruin a new tire and cannot find a Bridgestone Turanza Serenity for replacement. We drive fast and have many curves in our area so the dunlops were about gone at 17000 miles. Past experience with the Bridgestone is that we got about 50,000 miles per set on our
Acura.

 

[homeofstone]

Re: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

This link may help you out in what tires ton purchase. BTW some get less than 17000 miles on the Dumflops. Check out all the threads about tires.
http://genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=6410&highlight=michelin+pilot

 

[homeofstone]

Re: Dunlop OEM Tires- Unsafe and should be recalled!

I noted that this was from last September 2010. Why post again, starting a new thread, and not update us on what you did or what took place regarding new tires?

 

[msitter]

If you search back posts concerning the Dunlop tires you will find you are not alone in your displeasure. That being said, there is no mileage guaranty with them. Some have only gotten similar mileage as you and I have seen posts as high as 46,000 miles from others. Many factors come into play such as driving style, alignment (this can change with any number of road and load conditions), pressure,. It appears that the wear pattern indicates a possible camber or toe condition. A Saab I had routinely ate tires every 20-25000 miles. Since these are a high performance tire and are of a softer compound they would tend to wear more quickly. I would find a good alignment shop and have a computerized 4 wheel alignment done and have the technician set everything on spec (generally the center of the plus or minus range). You may have to slip him a tip to get him to spend the extra time to everything perfectly on spec. Then be sure to fill your tires with nitrogen as that is less likely to escape through the tires and is more temperature and pressure stable.

 

[waveman]

I've written to CEOs a few times over the years and gotten good results. Did you send a hardcopy letter or email? Was the address correct? Did you send the letter via certified or registered mail? (Not that it should make a big difference, but the man's name is Krafcik, not Krafik.)

It may be that your calling the tires unsafe triggered red flags on Hyundai's part. Their lawyers may have advised Mr. Krafcik not to respond for fear that they'd be admitting to a safety issue and have serious liability. It might have been better simply to have said that you were disappointed that the tires wore out prematurely.

(Not that I disagree that your tires were unsafe, and I've read many posts here complaining about the Dunlops. I'm keeping a close watch on mine and will replace them when they wear down, no matter when that happens.)

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[MHT]

Tire rack has the New Michelin Energy Saver 235-50-18 97V listed.
It would be interesting to see how this tire would perform on the Genesis 4.6 as it is listed as a passenger tire. It is very rare to see a passenger tire with a V rating.

 

[msitter]

While extreme tire wear is costly condition, 21000 miles in some cases is not considered extreme. 21000 miles does not mean there is a safety condition. Tread separation, blowout, sidewall blisters are safety conditions, none of which I see in your pictures. The Dunlops are probably a poor choice for Hyundai to have made in terms of wear but not in safety. I had factory Pirelli tires on 2 new cars I owned, Horrible noisy tires that lasted less than 20000 miles. Aggrivating yes, unsafe no. I just changed brands and moved on. Manufacturers choose tires based on 2 things, does it meet the engineering spec as outlined by the engineers and cost. In the late 70's, Michelin developed the TRX tire and sold the concept to Ford. The unit cost to Ford was about $7 per tire. It was a terrible tire but used a patented size(15.4") and bead. That gave Michelin 100% of the replacement market and they were very expensive. Unless the owner bought new wheels they were stuck with the Michelins or a Sears version also made by Michelin. At least we don't have runflat tires, the replacement cost for my wife's BMW, $2000 after 28000 miles. I changed them to Continental DWS and a can of Slime in the trunk.

 

[914eener]

Had the POS Dunlop's removed before the car ever left the dealers lot. Put on a set of Michelin Primacy's which are awesome.

I don't know why but the Lexus dealers all put the POS Dunlop's on as replacement tires for the LS series. Must get one heck of a price.

 

[grtday]

Double OOPS on the type!
I sent the letter to them via Snail Mail with "Personal Attention Requested" hand written on the envelope.
Big disappointment. Maybe I'll try it again.
Thanks!